Just thought I’d share a few thoughts on the drawing I made and have just shared on this blog. I was asked a while ago to illustrate a song for the musician, artist and writer Sid Wright.  This is for a book of songs that he is compiling, and the proceeds will go to a charity for victims of road traffic accidents. Sid lives in Cumbria, which I have a particular affinity with as I grew up there. I don’t want to say too much about the content of the song as the book has not been published yet. Enough to say, that it is very heartfelt. I remembered the drawing that I made in the summer for the Medea series called ‘Medea hold your heart’ which struck a chord with ‘Smile’. I decided to revisit that pose only this time showing part of the face with the mouth. I’m the most convenient and approachable model so I often use myself as a starting point. It is never meant to be a literal portrait but more of an archetype or universal notion of what I am trying to say. I made another drawing in the same sitting but this time in colour very quickly as the light was fading. I’ll work through the stages through drawing until I get somewhere, wherever that is! Watch this space.

Here’s my current Ingleton waterfall oil painting with Monday’s reworking. I’m bringing in some more green tones as in the sketch I’m using that I’ve recently shared on this blog. I’m also mixing mid-grey tones for the band of ochre rocks on the ledge. I’m still working quite vigorously, but have to be careful not to lose it. It’s so easy to in the later stages of a painting. You’re always thinking about this and how to approach the next stage. It’s a kind of dialogue that goes on constantly in the background of your days. I’m always trying to work my time to get back to the easel in good light, and a calm open frame of mind so that the marks can flow. Really enjoying my new brush that I bought in Cambridge on a recent visit. It has a real spring to it. I take very special care of new brushes to try to keep that quality as long as possible. I photographed this on the easel so you can get a sense of scale. I’ll keep you updated as to progress!

Here’s an old sketch of Ingleton waterfall that I have been using this half term for a small oil painting. I wanted to explore the elemental qualities of water and stone,as I had been with the Lymeregis Cobb work. Again it doesn’t matter that this was made a long time ago, my attention was so complete when I made it, I find that the sketch is like a key to unlock the memory even down to the feel of wet spray on my face and the sensation of the wet cold stone. The veil of water falling over the ledge of ochre coloured stone provided the original stimulus from the waterfall at the end of the iconic walk. The resulting painting is underway but not finished. I bought a wonderful new brush which should help complete it on my recent visit to Cambridge. The plasticity of the oil paint is a joy to work with. It is nowhere near finished. I need to feel where it wants to go next. I’ll share the painting itself in the next post. I made this drawing standing up with important colour notes that help so much when it comes to the painting.

I shared the more recent reworking of this painting on my last blog post. I painted the waves mostly and when I stood back noticed there was what looked like a tiny figure hidden in the water. This was not painted consciously but if he is there then I accept him. It happened a bit like the drawing that I made in the summer called ‘Medea’s heart’. The little heart in the middle of the drawing appeared on it’s own, I didn’t deliberately make the marks. Here’s an image of that so you can see what I mean. My painting seems to take on a life of it’s own sometimes and become something ‘other’.

Here’s an image of the Chagall that I was talking about in my previous post. You can see the tiny figure Bella in the corner. Beautiful. It reminded me of some tiny Picasso sculptures that I saw in the Picasso Museum in Paris with tiny heads and giant bodies. It’s this contrast in scale that is masterful, here’s my sketch of those.

This is my new smaller painting of Lymeregis Cobb with more of the sea coming in. I wanted to show the waves crashing against the wall of the Cobb more clearly as in the original sketch which I’ve already shared on this blog. It’s still not finished but it’s getting there. The wall of the built structure formed a wonderful rigid resistance to the dynamic moving water that was very much part of the memory. The resistance of the oil paint as I apply it to the canvas parallels this in a rather wonderful way.